Dinosaur Success - Weekly Blog (11/5-11/9)

Physical Features of Dinosaurs by Australian Museum

Summary

There are many factors that contributed to dinosaur success. Many of their physical features helped dinosaurs thrive for about 165 million years. As seen in the image above, the main characteristics shared by dinosaurs include a hole in the skull between eye socket and nostril, two holes in the skull behind the eye socket, an ankle that bends like a hinge, a hip socket with a hole in the middle, limbs held directly under the body, and three or more sacral vertebrae. 

Many of these characteristics are visible in other species. For example, dinosaurs were part of a group called archosaurs. Archosaurs share a hole in the skull. According to the article, 'What Is A Dinosaur?' by Fossil Facts and Finds, "Archosaurs all have a hole, called an antorbital fenestra, between the nasal hole (the Naris) and the eye socket hole (the Orbis.)" As well as archosaurs, dinosaurs were diapsids. Diapsids had two holes behind the eye sockets beside the skull. The holes contributed to dinosaur success because they helped the jaws to open wide and kill prey faster. All dinosaurs had a hip socket that had a hole in the middle. This trait helped support the weight of the body on the leg. Another trait that all dinosaurs shared are limbs that are held directly under the body. This allows for faster movement.

SP8: Obtain, Evaluate, and Communicate Information

This week, I obtained, evaluated, and communicated information about dinosaur traits and success. I researched from various scientific texts to find important. information, evidence, and ideas. I obtained information about the physical characteristics of dinosaurs, and how various shared traits helped make them successful. Next, I evaluated the information I had collected to come up with a hypothesis about dinosaur success. Finally, I communicated the information with others to share my discoveries and learn more about the topic. By obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, I have learned a lot about dinosaur success and understand the topic more thoroughly. 

XCC: Structure and Function

This week, I observed a structure and function relationship between the structure of the dinosaur and the function. In this relationship, the structure is the structure of a dinosaur. This includes traits and characteristics. The structure then leads to the function of how it helps the dinosaur survive and be successful. For example, the structure that dinosaurs have limbs directly under the body leads to the function that it helps with faster and more efficient movement. However, the structure does limit various functions. For example, having limbs under the body only helps with walking in running, and does not allow various dinosaurs to fly.may not help dinosaurs fly. Understanding this relationship has helped me learn more about how various characteristics have helped dinosaurs become very successful.